Ontario's mare purchase program completes season

With breeding sheds across North America set to open in the coming weeks, Ontario Racing's Thoroughbred Improvement Program has announced that its mare purchase program has ended for the season, with a strong response for the new programs designed to bolster the province's breeding and racing industry.

Ontario residents purchasing an in-foal mare at mixed auctions this season were eligible to receive as much as 50 percent of the purchase price, up to $15,000 (all funds Canadian), for each mare purchased. For any of the mares bred back to a registered Ontario sire in 2020, the buyer is eligible for an additional $2,500 payout. Through the conclusion of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s winter mixed sale, the penultimate major-market sale of this mixed auction season, a total of 24 in-foal broodmares were purchased for the program at various public auctions. Ontario Racing reported that 16 of those are expected to be bred back to an Ontario sire.

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Last month, Ontario Racing announced that its related mare recruitment program had also been fully subscribed for the season. Under this program, breeders can receive a $5,000 bonus for a mare brought to Ontario to foal. Those mares also are eligible for the $2,500 bonus if bred back to an Ontario sire, with the program holding a $500,000 cap in total incentives. Ontario Racing reports that paperwork for a total of 99 mares in foal has been submitted, with 60 to be bred back to an Ontario sire.

“The success of the mare purchase program and mare recruitment program has gone beyond our expectations,” owner and breeder David Anderson, an Ontario Racing board member, said. “The objectives of Ontario Racing’s Thoroughbred Horse Improvement committee were crafted to accommodate all sectors of the racing and breeding community. We want the broodmares to stay in Ontario permanently, offer a significant incentive to breed back to a registered Ontario sire, to produce an Ontario-bred, to be sold at the local yearling sale, while eventually racing at Woodbine or Fort Erie. We’re clearly off to a great start.”

Through these two programs, a total of 123 in-foal broodmares have been added to the ranks of the province's mares, with 76 pledged back to an Ontario sire. Those are strong figures for a region where live foal crop numbers have declined over the last several years. In 2017, 878 Ontario-born foals were registered, according to statistics from The Jockey Club, while 826 were recorded in 2018.

“Seeing this decline in the Ontario registered foal numbers, our committee needed to look at material solutions to address these challenges,” John Hayes, independent chair of Ontario Racing, said. “Those discussions spurred the development and the promotion of the mare purchase and mare recruitment programs. These initiatives signaled to the racing community that we were trying to invest and grow this business.”

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